With the advent of passive RFID (Ratio Frequency Identifier) tags (without a battery power source), the price point to use an RF tag has dropped significantly from the previous Active tag price ($0.50-$1.00 from $3.00 to $10.00). As this new passive technology progresses, the price point for a passive RF tag will likely approach the $0.10 mark. As the price drops, many commercially-available retail products will eventually be manufactured with a passive tag embedded (with read/write capability) into the produce or packaging as a normal part of the manufacturing process allowing the massive proliferation of RFID system use.
One of the first industry segments pioneering the use of passive RFID tags is Express Transport with such companies such as DHL, UPS, FedEx, etc. Today, these companies require a high-quality, bar-coded package label to be created and affixed to the package that shows information such as shipper identification, destination, shipment number, etc. These bar-coded labels are then scanned at various times to sort and track the package along its delivery cycle. Usually these labels are produced by thermal label printing systems located at their customer sites or at their shipping depots. Within these shipping companies, RFID technology is seen as a replacement technology to optically scan bar codes. Today, these companies are testing passive RFID technology to replace optically-scanned bar codes, including passive RFID technology which involves having a pressure-sensitive label generated by a thermal printer that at the same time of printing the package label, encodes the RF chip (embedded into the label).
Once the RF chips move to lower cost, they will eventually be incorporated into the retail products themselves. As an example, when a computer is manufactured, the manufacturer will embed an RF chip into the frame which could contain production dates, etc., for warranty information. This chip could then be later encoded with relevant shipment information (for sorting and tracking purposes) by the shipment company (e.g., UPS, DHL, etc.) using a radio signal transmitted to the package as the label is visually imaged with the delivery address. Since the bar code, which is normally on the package label, will not be needed for scanning or sorting the package, the only thing needed on the package label is a readable address. Thus, instead of the current package labeling system (thermal label printer with RF transmitter), a lower-cost system could be used. This system could be a small ink jet printing system equipped with a Radio Frequency transmitter. This ink jet system could then print the delivery address directly on the package, eliminating the need for applying the thermal label. Today, the label is required to provide a high-quality surface for the bar code or to act as a carrier for the RF chip.
The ink jet system will not be required to be high quality, only producing a readable address, such as the conventional non-contact ink jet systems that are used today to print production dates on products such as canned goods, bottles, etc.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of handling a product is provided, comprising: (a) Installing a conventional RFID tag in the product. (b) Providing the product with RFID tag in a package. (c) Imaging human-readable address information directly on the package. And, (d) encoding the RFID tag with at least one of shipping and tracking data.
Typically, (c) and (d) are practiced simultaneously, e.g., using a combination printer and RF transmitter. Typically (c) may be practiced using an ink jet printer which may be low resolution, or other low-resolution printer (that is, having a resolution of less than 200 dpi) since the address information need not be machine readable. Preferably, (a) and (d) are practiced so that no label with shipping or tracking information is provided on the package, and in fact the package may be substantially devoid of a label at all. Typically, (a) is practiced using a passive RFID tag, although an active tag (one with a battery) may be used.
The invention also relates to a package produced by the methods as described above. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package product comprising a product having a conventional RFID tag (e.g., a passive RFID tag) therein encoded with at least one of shipping and tracking data. A package packaging the product and having an external surface. And, human readable address or tracking indicia visible from the external surface of the package.
In the package according to the invention, the human-readable indicia may be imaged substantially directly on the package external surface. Alternatively, it could be imaged in an insert, which ultimately is readable from the exterior of the package, such as a simple piece of paper insert which is visible when the product is wrapped in plastic or a window envelope, or could even be provided on a low-quality label, although it is desirable to entirely avoid the cost of the label according to the invention. The human readable indicia may be low resolution (e.g., below 200 dpi) address indicia, or other low-resolution tracking or shipping information. Preferably, the package is substantially devoid of a label with RFID technology, or of a label with shipping or tracking indicia.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of packaging a product having an RFID tag (e.g., a passive RFID tag) therein. The method comprises (a) providing the product with RFID tag in a package. (b) Imaging a human readable address so that it is visible from the exterior of the package. And (c) encoding the RFID tag with at least one of shipping and tracking data. The details of the method are as described above, e.g., for example, (b) and (c) may be practiced substantially simultaneously.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a simple, yet effective method, and package, which allows ready and accurate shipping and tracking of a product in an inexpensive manner. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.